Managing Water Pollution in NSW

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is the state's primary environmental regulator and focuses on the regulation of water pollution from activities included on Schedule 1 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) or other legislation such as the Forestry Act 2012.

The EPA uses complementary approaches to protect the
waterways of NSW from the impacts of pollution. These include planning processes,
regulation, compliance programs, enforcement, market-based instruments and
other economic incentives, investigations, monitoring and reporting programs,
and public education.

The wide range of potential water pollution sources means
that the EPA shares responsibility for enforcement of the water pollution
provisions under the POEO Act with local councils and many other agencies that
also have powers of enforcement. Local government has a significant on-ground
presence under the POEO Act. While the EPA regulates licensed premises and
State or public authorities, councils regulate other activities through notice
and enforcement powers.